In the afternoon of Oct. 24, Phoebe Reinecker, 62, who owns Reinecker Nursery, was working in her home office, when she heard an employee calling for help, said Division Chief Dave Nemeyer, a Forest Grove Fire & Rescue spokesman. A longtime employee, who's in his 50s, suddenly collapsed near a business greenhouse. The man was unconscious; his heart was not beating.

Reinecker ran about 100 yards to the man, Nemeyer said, and began performing CPR on him. Forest Grove firefighters arrived within five minutes, used a defibrillator on the man and provided additional care. The man's heart restarted before he arrived at Tuality Community Hospital in Hillsboro. He woke up and began to speak.

Nemeyer said the man returned to his job within weeks and continues to work.

Nemeyer said Reinecker's actions – calling 9-1-1 quickly and performing CPR early – were critical in helping the man survive. The American Heart Association, Nemeyer said, lists the two actions in its Chain of Survival, which includes five steps that can improve the chances of living for a person in cardiac arrest.

"In almost every incident where a victim of sudden cardiac arrest survives, it is because someone helped them with early and effective CPR, which can cause survival rates to double or triple in some instances," Nemeyer said in a news release. "There is no doubt that in this incident, the man is able to be among us today because of the calm yet quick actions that Mrs. Reinecker took to save his life."

Forest Grove Mayor Peter Truax, City Council members and Fire Chief Michael Kinkade will present Reinecker with the department's Citizen's Service Award at 7 p.m. at the meeting, held at City Hall.